https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/02-Dig-What-Youre-Putting-Down.mp3 primitive—from the heart the parts the tongue of your enemy licking you—physical not diffused through prismatic gimmicks—from low below the belt—courageous—or? impulsive simplicity—directness—sweat on the brow—bursting against the seams—hungry—the lunge of need—fear of eclipse—dancing to extinguish terror—sex over death—ego over sacrifice—Jesus not a primitive—Holy Ghost? fighting with your own self—dirt—blood—saliva—come—raised voices chanting—wood smoke—torches—heavy drumming on logs—poison leaves—itching from teas—fear of strangers—not arguing the points!—no poetry outside of desire—descriptions of fulfillment—wonder at sexual favor ok—amazement of size—power of personality—deep feeling—Justice?—not about memories but in the present—breathing through nose hairs—the surprising sensation of a punch in the nose —the heat felt in dryness—watching through windows after dark.

Silver semis glide on asphalt ropes which dangle over bottomless drops—this is known as a highway—boxes upended with air holes shake in the wind braced for kicks—known as community—climbing the ropes in a wind tunnel—known as driving without sleep—putting insects into the popcorn—also known as Top Forty—elbowed by the Rio Grande familiar sensations—the bottom falls out a wet sack—trusting a politician—the big hands on the two the little hands in yr pocket—that’s entertainment—snubbed at the ball that’s amore—grappling with forbidden tongues—picking up the mail—tendons sore from construction—age—the heat’s on—the deck sways—the typhoon roars—elementary my dear penguin.

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/10-Many-Roads-to-Follow.m4a Folsom St.   Nerves —’70’s a beat up building on Folsom Street cars rush by late for the freeway late for the bridge trash in the street cracks in the window & every player in the band lives on a separate floor aligned by the window well A bass amp on the floor pressed into service as a coffee table linoleum asbestos & an old junk tv tuned to the all night movies (movies ’til dawn) a beat up record player & speakers & my kitty cats torment the puppy (who howls when they slap him with their claws outstretched) & Jack & Connie are yelling again fighting again round & round shouts down the well I had an onion Paul had a spud & we fried ‘em up in oil with catsup borrowed from Clown Alley San Francisco—the ’70’s—a city of outlaws the West—drifters & outsiders rents are cheap & we’re passing the days in a basement hours of rehearsal while the clock tower on a downtown bank ticking the hours by   ten or sixteen nothing in the fridge  nothing in the cupboard no books on the shelf no money but time dreaming up songs that somehow

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/See-Through-Eyes.mp3 out on the chilly winds  & fog—the breakers breaking the waves waving goodbye & the whales wailing under the railings of the golden alley bridge—a world wide -retro-coop, super group—a pox o’yr swindle yr bag of used tools—the prez is leering from a Lear jet—and cargo boats with soggy bottoms & pastel hills & primary containers jelly fish out into the harbor—pass water the gate & motivate—east to Hong Kong—Singapore—Peking don’t forget to duck—weighed down with boxcar size quantities of gargle, paddle balls looking for a racket, kittens prowl the poop deck, the first mate he got drunk, climbed a mast to masticate, wrote a letter to the magistrate, bought a parcel of promised land by the acre–by the time I got to the taste of ashes–songs composed on ouija boards, the ouija bored itself—the ships cutting through the scar & sky blue empress of the package & always lick your stamps before dropping them in the box–Mr Lucky Reels, the Hambone Sisters grimace, Skye Page gathers trinkets, soldiers on glass elevators throw stones at Billy Boy who drools like a crooner.

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/Peter-Case-Hide-In-Gout-mix-150104b_02.m4a Featuring Ben Harper on lead guitar, Cindy Wasserman and Eva De Roovere on vocals, DJ Bonebrake on drums and David J Carpenter on bass…recorded at Sheldon Gomberg’s studio in LA. Left off the album, I just couldn’t find a spot for it.  

My version of Memphis Minnie’s great song, which I learned watching Honeyboy Edwards play in L.A. twenty years ago. This was recorded during the HWY 62 sessions, but never released, as that album featured songs I wrote about contemporary topics, and Bumble Bee didn’t seem to fit. But I played it on a guitar Ben Harper gifted me, a Fraulini version of Lead Belly’s Stella, and they recorded the first time I picked the instrument up. Minnie’s version is the one. All her records are great. Play them loud! But check this out, it is what it is… https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/PC-Bumble-Bee-day-1_01.m4a

https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/Peter-Case-Santa-Cruz-Crime-Wave-od-vocals_02.m4a Historical song about a recent hair-raising moment in Nor-Cal history. With Dany Frankel on drums.

“When the race starts close to the finish line…” The Formula “1)  Get in touch with your feelings- access your underground: the unconscious: always feeling the background. 2) Nobody can make any good music unless they first learn to play for themselves. Forget about exterior stuff, their image, whether the stuff they play is any good or not , whether the audience is pleased or not, and all that superficial stuff.   “Go by your feelings, kid, forget about whether the audience likes what you write, what you play…” 3) Hard work…there’s no such thing as talent. Just emotions & paying attention to them, & hard work…thats the formula, & in the end, you can’t lose.” -John Fahey “Any writer overwhelmingly honest about pleasing himself is almost sure to please others.”    -Marianne Moore Woody Guthrie: “Just the idea of the title for your song is more than half the battle to catch your ballad. I’ve got thousands of titles laid away like postal saving bonds. I spend hours & hours just writing down my ideas for titles to my songs. I jump up late of nights & grab somebody’s pencil & somebody’s paper & write down just the titleline

If you dug the Plimsouls Kool Trash, here’s a solo track cut at roughly the same time, that has a similar vibe, in a way. By that I mean, a rocker story song set in the big city, with a big chorus, kinda like “Down.” 1995. This track was cut at Capital Records, with Steven Soles on harmony vocals, Jerry Scheff on electric bass, Greg Leisz on electric lap steel guitar, and Don Heffington on drums. It was cut at the very end of the session, when we had five minutes left! Billy Swan helped with the vocals too, I think…Larry Hirsch engineered it. Steven, Larry and I produced it, as a team… Torn Again (1995)   https://petercase.com/wp-content/uploads/02-Baltimore.mp3